"Conscience – nurture or nature?"

The discussion over this has been on-going for many years. Does God put within us a 'conscience?' If so, then why do so many people, even children, seem to not have a conscience?

When we talk about conscience we generally are framing a discussion about knowing the difference between right and wrong. The extremes of that could be couched as holy and evil.

Is it assumable as a 'natural' progression to see doing 'wrong' as a first step toward 'evil?'

I am convinced from the many years I worked in mental health with children and youth who had been adjudicated and placed in a class IV 'lock-down' unit that a 'conscience' has positive regulators and motivators, and without those a person acts 'without conscience.'

I'm further convinced that the primary value necessary in having a 'good' conscience is "compassion."

Compassion provides for appropriate emotional responses such as kindness, generosity, empathy, sympathy and mercy.

The word 'compassion' comes from a Latin word, compassus, which joins "com" (together) with "pati" (suffer, endure).

I believe that we have to develop the soil of compassion in our souls, and in the souls of those little ones entrusted to us. In teaching our children and grandchildren kindness, generosity, empathy, sympathy and mercy we are cultivating compassion and the framework for an active conscience.

A person seeking to do good through acts of kindness, generosity and mercy, a person moved by empathy and sympathy, will not be involved in works that are a slippery slope to evil.

I believe that doing good takes deliberation and intent. I believe that doing evil comes as a natural response to the evil in the world around us. I have worked with too many children from the "Lord of the Flies."

God, help us to love our children enough to teach them compassion.